U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,124,112 and 6,557,695 disclose devices for inspecting non-round containers, such as glass containers, for commercial variations that can affect acceptability of the containers. A rotary conveyor transports the containers in sequence from an infeed station through at least one inspection station to an outfeed station at which the containers are transported away from the inspection machine. The rotary conveyor has a plurality of peripheral pockets in which the containers are individually disposed. The machine of U.S. Pat. No. 4,124,112 includes a plurality of flexible resilient fingers disposed upstream of the outfeed station for positioning each container in sequence at a desired orientation at the outfeed station. A general object of the present disclosure is to provide an apparatus for orienting non-round containers, particularly flask-shaped containers, at a desired orientation at the outfeed station of the a rotary container inspection machine.
The present disclosure embodies a number of aspects that can be implemented separately from or in combination with each other.
Apparatus for controlling orientation of non-round containers at an outfeed station of a container inspection machine having a rotary conveyor with pockets in which the containers are individually disposed, in accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure, includes a flipper arm disposed adjacent to the conveyor and a spring biasing the flipper arm toward the conveyor. The flipper arm has a cam surface disposed to be engaged by a container carried by the conveyor as the container approaches the outfeed station of the conveyor to cam the flipper arm outwardly with respect to the conveyor and against the force of the spring. The flipper arm has an edge adjacent to the cam surface for engaging and rotating the container as the container moves out of engagement with the cam surface and the flipper arm moves inwardly under force of the spring. The flipper arm preferably is mounted to pivot around an axis, and the spring preferably biases the flipper arm around the axis toward the conveyor. The cam surface preferably is concave, and the edge of the flipper arm preferably is at an edge of the cam surface remote from the pivot axis of the flipper arm. The flipper arm preferably also includes an abutment surface extending from the edge of the flipper arm to stabilize the container at the orientation to which the flipper arm rotates the container.